Middle East Meeting Suppliers Boost Bidding Skills

The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition center (ADNEC) hosted the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Middle East Chapter Workshop on bidding for international association meetings on April 22 and 23, with more than 60 participants and 10 speakers.

The workshop was designed to provide an introduction about ICCA and the international association meetings sector’s bidding methodology, and was attended by ICCA Middle East members and new potential regional members in the private sector, including professional conference organizers (PCOs), destination management companies (DMCs) and MICE venues, hotels and venue operators as well as government organizations from different parts of the region such as UAE, Oman and KSA.

The workshop's program included sessions from different regional speakers introducing the audience to ICCA and ICCA products, and provided insight in the complexity of the international association meetings bidding process from a variety of honourable speakers with different experiences and industry backgrounds.

"If I had to name the single most critical skill in our business today, it would be bidding," ICCA CEO Martin Sirk said in a statement. "Gaining an appreciation of how to identify and respond to clients' key strategic objectives is really vital to stay ahead of the competition. Understanding how to integrate these business solutions with powerful destination branding, so that clients' are engaged both rationally and emotionally, is the key to winning more international meetings."

All ICCA members in the Middle East and ICCA’s Middle East regional office represented by Gamal Sadek (ICCA Regional Director Middle East) aim to support the regional industry and to increase the number of international association meetings taking place in the region.

In November 2014, ICCA President Nina Freysen-Pretorius announced that the ICCA Board of Directors had selected Dubai as the host destination for 2018, saying: "Not only did this bid fully meet our business objectives and logistical requirements, the Board considered it to be a truly exceptional proposal."